Jonas had been gone for a little bit when Kim noticed that a light was illuminating the surrounding area. While she couldn't be sure what the source was, it was enough for her to be able to make out the corridor she was in. As well as Elmo who was soundly asleep nearby.
She wished she could have gone bac for Elin herself, but at the moment, had to accept that there wasn't anything she could do about it. Too much was out of her hands in regards to what could and couldn't be done. Though, she felt her guard go up with the light appearing, since not only was it clearly coming from the opposite direction Jonas had gone it, but she knew that he wouldn't have gotten a light going, with how that could attract the attention of any goblins they might not have noticed and that hadn't noticed them passing by.
She hoped that whatever the reason they had the light going, that it wasn't going to be because they were coming in Kim's direction. While she liked the light, she would rather not have to fight who knows how many when her only other teammate was one who was completely sacked out. After all, even if she woke Elmo up, she knew that he wasn't going to be able to focus as well as she would need him to in a fight.
Then there was the fact that while the corridors here were wider than the stairway in the village had been, as that would allow her to use her bastard sword, it also meant that she wouldn't be able to make a blockade to keep the goblins from going around her by herself.
Glancing at Elmo, she couldn't help but feel a little resentful that he was able to sleep so soundly when she was stuck keeping watch in an area so full of danger that she wasn't sure if they could truly afford to let any of the group sleep, especially with them split up as they were.
Carefully, she moved to the corner of the corridor to peek around it, hoping to see nothing. She wasn't sure if she fully remembered the layout of this corridor, so she couldn't say if it would go straight to the room after this turn in the hallway or if there were more turns.
She was relieved to see that it was empty, yet not so relieved to see shadows on the wall in the distance. Shadows that she could only assume were made by goblins.
They were too close for her comfort, but as long as they didn't head towards where she and Elmo were, then there wasn't a reason to do anything. Yet, she never liked counting on maybes and what-ifs. Counting on things like that to help were just ways of not taking responsibility of her life, in her opinion.
There was always a chance of something crazy happening like a driver of a vehicle running her over while she's on the sidewalk, or a meteorite landing on her, but the chances of that happening are so slim as to not even be worth considered as actual possibilities to consider. She was in much more danger of the government screwing her over through trying to 'help' her than she was any of that.
She moved back to where she had been and sat on the floor. She wasn't about to waste her energy watching that part of the corridor when she could just as easily hear any goblin approaching if any of them started walking down.
She wasn't about to leave herself blind to anything approaching from the other direction either. While Jonas and Elin were in that direction, she couldn't say that goblins weren't either. Even if goblins came from that direction, there wasn't a reason why they'd have encountered Jonas or Elin. Kim was confident that they'd be able to hide from goblins if necessary, though she wished she knew exactly where they were.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there, but could only be sure she hadn't fallen asleep, when she noticed a light approaching from the other direction. She moved as quietly as she could to the other end of the corridor, peeking around that turn to see if there was anything to be seen.
At first all she saw was an empty corridor with the light growing stronger, but it wasn't approaching at a steady pace. Kim wasn't sure what to make of it, but couldn't be sure if it was a wounded goblin or just a goblin that was really tired. As the only ones she could think of having a torch were goblins.
Although, as she thought about it, it was possible that Jonas had defeated some goblins and taken their source of light, but refused to entertain that possibility. That would definitely be a 'maybe' or 'what-if' and she wasn't about to pin her hopes on a gamble like that.
Though, as the light continued to grow stronger, Kim glanced behind her, just to make sure there weren't goblins approaching from that direction and was relieved to see the light from there wasn't growing stronger, but rather remaining steady.
Then when Kim looked back at the direction the source of light was approaching from, she noticed that she could see shadows. They didn't look like the goblin shadows from earlier, but that didn't really mean anything to her. There could be any number of reasons why these shadows might not look the same.
Kim put her hand on the hilt of her bastard sword, ready to draw it when the goblins neared the corner she was hiding behind. Striking first on an unsuspecting opponent might be considered cowardly or cheap by some, but at the moment, Kim was only concerned with surviving. In the end, surviving was all that mattered to her. Her own survival and that of the rest of her group.
Which meant, even though she didn't really like Elmo, the fact that he was part of her group meant that she needed to be concerned with his survival as well. At that thought, she briefly considered waking him up. Regardless of anything else, it would improve her chances of survival and dealing with any goblins, but she quickly dismissed that idea.
He was tired and she didn't want to waste what rest he'd been able to get so far. She was confident his abilities would be needed when they made their final push towards the portal. She could only imagine how many goblins there were around that portal.
As such, she knew they needed to be as strong as possible in order to have the best chances they could against that level of a threat. So she forced herself to stay where she was and wait for the goblins to come within striking distance of her blade.
When she saw movement coming around the corner in the distance, she pulled herself back a little so she wouldn't be so visible. She felt every nerve of her body tensing up, getting ready to move when she judged the distance right. She wouldn't allow time for mistakes. She had to do it perfectly the first time.
She wasn't sure how many goblins to expect, but was determined to end this as quickly and as quietly as possible. She definitely didn't want to finish this group of goblins only to have another start coming towards her from the other direction to investigate the sounds they heard.
It took her a minute for fully process what she saw when the light source came around the corner. Either it wasn't a goblin or a goblin had gotten really good at disguising itself. It looked like a person hunched under a very heavy load. While she couldn't make out exact details because she was essentially looking towards the torch that was being carried by the creature, she felt like there wasn't any significant danger here.
Kim stepped around the corner to get a better look, causing the creature to stop, and back up a couple steps. She could tell that the creature wasn't a goblin and so walked as quietly as she could, without going at a slow pace.
When she got closer, she could make out what had been hidden in the shadows. Elin's scared face watched Kim approaching. Kim couldn't say how much relief she felt to see Elin was okay. Not only that but she'd somehow managed to carry Jonas a distance. Kim wasn't sure how, but wouldn't be surprised if Elin had used her magic to make herself stronger or something.
"Would you like me to carry him the rest of the way, my gem?" Kim asked.
Elin's face first shifted to one of surprise, then one of relief. Elin didn't say anything, but merely slumped to the ground, Jonas rolling off of her back with a soft sound of impact as his body hit the ground.
Kim walked over, picked Jonas' unconscious form off the ground, and took the torch from Elin's hand. Then she waited for Elin to stand up, her legs clearly unsteady, and then led her to where Elmo was still sleeping.
Once there, Kim carefully set Jonas next to Elmo, set the torch on the ground nearby, then took Elin in her arms, enjoying the feeling of the young woman's body pressed against hers.
Elin didn't say anything, but merely cried quietly. Kim wanted to know what happened, but knew the story could wait until Elin was calm enough to talk. Yet, to Kim's annoyance, when Elin finally stopped crying, she was asleep. Though, Kim didn't blame the girl.
She could imagine how nerve wracking being alone like that had to have been. Then it was clear that she either had to have fought goblins by herself or finished them off after Jonas was down. Otherwise, Kim couldn't imagine how Elin had been able to get the torch in the first place.